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energymanagementsystem-blog · 4 years

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Included by The Edge: Never Waste a Crisis

As affiliations work to pick up the pace with cross the robotized openings inside their relationship, there is a creating need to address the test factors that go with digitalisation which circuits issues of cost, limit need and nonappearance of scale. With the ever-pushing business parcel lead, business pioneers have used on deftness and improvement ton ensure their affiliations suffer and flourish this pandemic. Starting late, Plus Solar was met by The Edge as an alum of EY's Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 close to industry pioneers on how we have executed digitalisation to fight the current money related impact.

Find the media thought by The Edge underneath:

One of the activities the business plan has expected to learn and understand during the Covid-19 pandemic is that affiliations ought to be agile. For most, powerful change was filtered through as pioneers pushed their workforce to turn rapidly and usefully contemplating the rapidly making scene. A dash of the records of progress and quality are inspiring affirming picked decisions that have had a significant impact for the affiliations. Here, 12 mindful Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year graduated class people share the activities they have aced during the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the persuading propels they have taken, in the craving for supporting distinctive relationship in their drive towards recovery and productivity. Click here energy management system

In like way SOLAR SYSTEMS SDN BHD

Ko Chuan Zhen, prime supporter + CEO

Poh Tyng Huei, prime supporter + head working position

Ryan Oh Zhi Kang, prime supporter + director improvement official

A strong foundation alone will shield a business from spilling, and that is really what we need this year. Never waste a crisis. We outfit the pandemic as a push factor to develop our properties and catch extra chances. We realigned our inspiration and provoked our Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) answers for animate the digitalisation of essentialness in Malaysia. That inferred adjusting to swarm direct and the changing scene rapidly. With digitalisation as a push, we uncovered our AIoT blueprints and used our changed customer keep up. These credits enabled us to deal with the overall development in enquiries and collect better relationship with our client base. As affiliations work to diminish their overall operational costs, centrality has rose as among the essential utilizations. We are managing our AIoT answers for address this, to enable 20%-30% of significance experience assets for clients and update their overall imperativeness usage for tremendous standard concern save stores.

THE CENTER OF APPLIED DATA SCIENCE SDN BHD (CAD)

Sharala Axryd, coordinator + CEO

Coordinating pay was among our hardest troubles. In proceeding with the business during tricky stretches, we discovered such an astounding total about people's ability to work from home and the favorable position it yielded. We also enabled the modernized differentiation in our things and got the ground towards changing into an outlines connection. Affiliations would not have the decision to help this with waving if they don't digitize their business and handle data appraisal. This advantages to financials. Use predictable evaluation to see where the pay will begin from, how you can stay material, and how you can refresh or improve your business and pay. We are eventually social event the dashboard with the fitting cash related numbers — coming up and approaches to improve errands, encounters and others in one focus source. Starting there, you can decide your cash exhaust, pay projection and operational costs. Appraisal is applied to that yet it must be connected with all business works out. As opposed to relying on data being figured out how to you, you could get the chance to cash related information from your own superb work zone. This is the procedures by which I use evaluation for a post-Covid-19 economy. With data immediately open, we can be vigilant instead of responsive.

Clinical INNOVATION VENTURES SDN BHD (MEDIVEN)

Dr Lim Li Sze, prime supporter + undertakings boss.

We opposed the primer of running a get-together office while clinging to standard working structures to ensure the flourishing of our family. We likewise expected to ensure the ideal get-together of customer orders. Luckily, our extraordinarily solid staff people have been doing all that they can to address these issues. Shocking assistance with the deftly wrestle furthermore helps with ensuring everything runs with no issue. In a difficult situation, it is your allies, family and people you fathom who will go to your guide. When pushed, humanity can make creative responses for oversee issues. We have seen an ordinary triple helix association, where the academic framework, private firms and the lawmaking body have gotten together to make innovative developments for keen fundamental reasoning. Structure. It a piece of the time takes the outright movement from structures getting together to deal with an issue. It is ideal to not overpromise yet to concentrate on flawless figures. Being inventively forefront is basic. As Mediven was inventively current, it allowed us to consider a Covid-19 test pack at short warning. To have the choice to manage a crisis, it is fundamental to set up the relationship for change and to be questionable to the upsides and drawbacks of making a good choice.

LOOB HOLDING SDN BHD (TEALIVE ASIA)

Bryan Loo, CEO

We used to dispatch 200 outlets dependably as the association structure was vivaciously dependent upon exponential store improvement. With the pandemic, regardless, progress was done — locally comparably as for the most part. We grew quickly. We took our standard squares and-mortar model and meandered into electronic business, starting with our notable DIY bubble tea pack. We moreover began noteworthy joint endeavors with keen moving customer things brands, for instance, Wall's and made the Special Edition Tealive Boba Ice Cream with them. We will after a short time dispatch a particular air pocket bistro on GrabMart and Pandamart.

It is furthermore essential to audit that relationship for people are driven by people. Persistently offer criticalness and vitality in the social event as it attracts consistent commitment while investigating the dull with you and will over the long haul lead your business to accomplishments. During seasons of crisis, business pioneers step up to guarantee their family, customers and amigos — and occasionally that infers making irregular decisions. Regardless, that is our motivation for the length of customary everyday presence — to push through the preventions and drive our vision unequivocally.

MYNEWS HOLDINGS BHD

Darn Tai Luk, coordinator + CEO

We took in the centrality of building a versatile business that is a great deal of furnished with inside system s and cutoff focuses as this considers business advancement with less outside help with a crisis. With the business world going genuinely blend, the blueprints of our online business piece have extended a few spread. Squares and-mortar affiliations must leave on online business to secure another flood of plans to improve their physical closeness. Likewise, improvement orchestrating is central for business congruity, especially when the risk of disease is high. At the height of the pandemic, we set the inspiration driving business reasonableness contemplating laborers while serving frontliners in the structure. A cost decline practice helped us to discard wide overheads. We are using this opportunity to address wavers and deficiencies that have been improved by the crisis. Your collusion will move out of it more capable and even more thin, lastly extension in bargains on account of the more wide utilization of progress. I don't know whether the world will whenever return to commensurate included boulevards and strip malls of pre-Covid-19 days. Customer direct has moved. Human traffic will reduce as people bind their new turns of events and work from home. In like manner, it is constantly basic to keep your pay strong to help similarly as may be sensible.

FUSIONEX GROUP

Datuk Seri Ivan Teh, originator + bunch CEO

I call it "Capable" — flexibility, quietness and sympathy. These have been the best key arrangements from Covid-19 and the MCO. Adaptability has been the most ideal approach to manage dealing with this pandemic and the outstanding unexpected movement that has climbed out of it. Being a tech association, we have had the upside of deftness in pushing toward business and working up our obligations. We by then set up the centrality of keeping the legitimate social event reasonable. In the all out of this, compassion has been a value we have understood to identify with others who are encountering [the same] issues. My hardest test was restricting the impact of the pandemic on the connection and keeping the staff convinced. Our affiliation picked honestly off the bat that we would keep up staff resolve through considering remuneration rates, allowing difficult to reach work, making open correspondence between social gatherings, encouraging them that they are absolutely bit of "pack Fusionex" and ensuring their families were secured and sound. See and experience the blessing from paradise to support synergistic affiliations and plots over the business go since everyone is endeavoring to keep their business above water. Accomplice before long with movement helpers to follow endeavors in regions, for instance, AI, monstrous data evaluation, blockchain, Internet of Things, online business, and so forth. Bear the present and perceive the open strategy to retrain, reskill and reexamine to set yourself up.Visit here https://edge.plus-solar.com.my/

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sciencespies · 3 years

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Op-ed | Space tourism’s environmental price tag

https://sciencespies.com/space/op-ed-space-tourisms-environmental-price-tag/

Op-ed | Space tourism’s environmental price tag

There’s no such thing as a free launch — especially when it comes to suborbital joy rides

Whether or not you agree with Elon Musk that we need higher volume and lower cost access to space so that a small portion of humanity can flee our imperiled planet and become planetary refugees, at least he has a plausible justification (albeit one that deserves scrutiny and debate) for undertaking major industrial activities and launch operations that inject thousands of tons of carbon and other greenhouse gasses (GHG) into the atmosphere.

The backdrop, though, is that we are reeling from multiple and recurring extreme weather events caused at least in part by climate change wrought by human activities. So, how do Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and to some extent, Elon Musk, justify their extensive, carbon-generating activities? Space Tourism!

I spent a long and interesting professional life in the space industry in a variety of roles, from selling satellites and launch services, to promoting companies that launched constellations of LEO and GEO communications satellites, to opening the new market for satcom services on aircraft. I was always confident that the mission of the civilian satellite industry — to increase knowledge, awareness, and communications among people everywhere — was worthy, and that this mission justified the known environmental costs of civilian space activities.

Jeff Bezos and brother Mark celebrate following their July 20 flight. Credit: Blue Origin

Now, based on evolving awareness about the environmental impact, I’m not at all sure. The perilous state of our atmosphere is front page news, and it seems increasingly challenging to change human behavior significantly enough, and quickly enough, to avert major disaster caused by global climate change. We are already living in a period with a far higher incidence of extreme weather events — storms, floods, heat waves, fires, etc. — and the link to climate change is clearer by the day.

The carbon footprint and other GHG contributions from the development, construction and operation of space launch systems is massive. As with many human activities, we are only beginning to quantify the total impact of this industry, but it is not impossible to do so; recall the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analyses frequently conducted by companies to justify their investments. For launch services, TCO includes the environmental impact of extraction and refining of all the materials, and for developing and producing the vehicles, their support components, and their chemical fuels, plus the very visible large burning event of the launch itself. Whatever the specific analysis eventually reveals, we are talking about tons and tons and tons of atmospheric carbon. It is truly a massive footprint. I challenge the launch services providers to demonstrate otherwise.

We are long past the days when spaceflight was an indomitable challenge, so climbing the space mountain because it is there is simply not a sufficient justification for doing so in light of the known harm to those of us planning to remain on the planet.

The new human launch systems and their private company management teams offer technical and operational improvements and efficiencies, to be sure, but the underlying technologies and activities still carry huge environmental costs, which are currently passed to the public. With government historically running the show, at least we had the party ultimately responsible for addressing the environmental cost making the key decisions. Those have not always been good decisions, but government is now waking up to the issues of climate change, and while this may shift over time, government is clearly the most important mechanism we have today for structurally addressing the climate crisis.

The economic rationale for the new systems, and their pricing, are based in large part on projected larger volumes. While the start-up costs for these systems are backed by massive private fortunes that can distort the economic rationale, it is clear that current pricing is not supported by demonstrable underlying demand for launch services. In fact, the “business plans” for these larger volumes are supported by optimistic revenue projections for launching constellations of communications satellites that, despite their own optimistic projections, cannot hope to compete with terrestrial services in the medium or long term, outside of the niches where satellite technologies excel: namely, broadcast, low user density two-way connectivity (remote and mobile) and Earth observation.

While other aspects of their plans may be shaky, the worst kind of “business plan” backfilling for this new generation of launch services is space tourism, a “service” for the ultra wealthy, that serves no higher purpose whatsoever, and carries very substantial environmental costs at a time of climate peril for the planet. It is very hard to see how flying billionaires, or even multimillionaires into space is filling a need that is so important that we should be adding tons of carbon and other GHG to the atmosphere so they can COMMENTARY Leo Mondale realize their childhood dreams, or effect their escape from a planet they are doing much to imperil.

Surely within the space industry we don’t need to discuss whether we believe in science or not, so we should accept the scientific consensus that the environmental impacts of atmospheric carbon and other GHG are real and getting worse. Ideologically, we can probably also agree that protecting personal freedoms that do not cause harm to others is central to our society, and arguably, to its survival. But in the case of space tourism, there IS clear and present harm to others. Indeed, if there is a poster child for where to apply a steep carbon tax, or other climate change mitigation policies, it is surely space tourism. I urge legislators and policymakers to do so at once, before this toothpaste is out of its tube.

Leo Mondale spent 35 years in the space industry, holding executive positions at Matra (now Airbus), Fairchild Space and Defense, Motorola, Iridium, and Arianespace. He most recently served as president of Inmarsat’s aviation business unit, before retiring in 2018. He lives in Portland, Maine.

This article originally appeared in the August 2021 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

#Space

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kanwaldesigns · 3 years

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Climate change and affects of species (Tigers)

Animals are drastically affected by global climate change, and humans are the primary contributing factor. The rate of change is faster than the Earth has experienced in the last million years, and we must act now before it is too late.

What is global warming?

The sun’s light passes through the atmosphere and most of it is absorbed by Earth’s surface, with excess heat radiating from the surface back towards space. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act as a blanket and trap the excess heat. The gases are then prevented from escaping, and surface temperatures are raised as a result. The higher the concentration of greenhouse gases, the greater this “greenhouse effect” works to trap heat around the planet which means an overall increase in temperatures known as global warming.

How are global warming and climate change linked?

Global warming increases the temperatures of the Earth’s surface, including oceans. This causes changes in weather patterns over an long period of time, which should not be confused with weather in the short term. These overall weather pattern changes are known as climate change.

How have humans contributed to the climate crisis?

Humans release unprecedented levels of heat-trapping and ozone layer depleting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, leading to global warming and climate change.

Methane, a hydrocarbon gas, is produced by human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and livestock raised for human consumption.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 71% of all greenhouse gases.

Carbon dioxide is released through natural processes, such as respiration and volcano eruptions, and through human activities such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels. Humans have increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution began.

Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas produced by fossil fuel combustion, soil and fertilizer cultivation practices, and the burning of biomass.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are synthetic compounds made for industrial purposes. These greenhouse gases deplete the ozone layer – the layer of the atmosphere responsible for shielding the earth and its inhabitants from a portion of the sun’s radiation. Although the industrial use of CFCs is regulated, these harmful greenhouse gases are present in air-conditioners and refrigerants, insulations and packing materials, solvents, and aerosol cans.

Water vapor, while “natural” can become lethal too. As temperatures increase, the bodies of water that cover the vast majority of Earth’s surface release larger amounts of water vapor into the air. Water vapor in the atmosphere also acts to trap heat, creating more clouds and precipitation, and accounts for nearly 80% of the total greenhouse mass in the atmosphere. Water vapor not only increases Earth’s surface temperatures through its participation in the greenhouse effect, but it also increases precipitation and alters weather patterns over time (i.e. climate change). As temperatures continue to increase, the vicious cycle of excess heat being trapped and even more water vapor entering the atmosphere continues unabated, finally ending in a planet too hot for us and most species to survive.

How does climate change impact animals?

Animals have paid the price for the human-induced climate crisis in many ways. Here are some examples.

Recent discoveries of the perilous conditions of the Earth’s oceans, which cover over 71% of the planet, show huge disruptions to marine ecosystems due to climate change. “Warmer waters impact almost every aspect of ocean welfare, from coral bleaching to fish migration patterns and even alter oceanic currents. Warming causes chaos within marine life, which takes biological cues from temperatures to know when to spawn.”

Nearly 190 sea turtles died off of the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts due in part to an unprecedented weather system, caused by warming sea surface temperatures and sea level rise. Gale force winds, high tides, and unusually cold temperatures disabled migrating turtles, many of whom were found frozen as they traveled south in search of warmer water to lay their eggs.

Fifty polar bears invaded a small island approximately 1,200 miles north of Moscow, Russia after melting Arctic sea ice forced them onto land in search of food, increasing the probability of deadly encounters with humans.

Approximately 23,000 speckled flying foxes died over a span of two days during a heatwave. This species, which lost one third of its population during this event, is only found in a small rainforest region in Queensland, Australia, where the foxes play a important role in pollinating native trees.

An estimated 80,000 reindeer died in Siberia from starvation. Warmer temperatures caused the nearby Arctic sea ice to melt, and exposed the warmer Atlantic water below. The newly exposed water was released as water vapor into the air, leading to increased cloud production and rainfall. When temperatures dropped drastically over 10,000 square miles of the southern part of the Yamal Peninsula, thousands of reindeer were incapable of breaking through the thick, newly formed ice to access lichen and plants below.

The Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent species which inhabited a coral island off the coast of Australia, became the first known mammal to become extinct due to “human-induced climate change.” Rising sea levels cause widespread habitat destruction over the past decade.

Although often overlooked, human-driven habitat loss, pollution, and the climate crisis “may lead to the extinction of 40 percent of the world’s insect species over the next few decades.” The loss of nearly half of all insects would also lead to the loss of the animals who rely on them as a food source. Losing key pollinators and insects needed to pollinate crops and to keep soil healthy would have a devastating impact on agriculture and the economy, and prohibit feeding our rapidly increasing human population.

How Can We Help Animals And Protect the Planet We Call Home?

“From altering migratory and behavioral patterns and limiting the availability of food and water, to destroying habitats and wiping out entire species, humans are responsible for threatening the survival of animals by the lifestyle choices we make.”

Our rapidly increasing human population is the single greatest contributor to the climate crisis and the destruction of animal habitats worldwide. Every single person on Earth requires space, food, water, and infrastructure such as hospitals, schools as well as grocery stores. With 360,000 births per day, a staggering number that is double the number of deaths, animals will continue to be harmed and displaced at a reckless and overwhelming pace.

As Gwynn Mackellen, a California recycling consultant, who is based in California states “I work in the waste industry, and our waste is the downstream of people. It’s not people being bad; it’s just the effects of people. Just as it’s not only bad people deforesting, the trees are being cut down on our behalf. Plastic waste is being dumped and minerals are being mined not because of bad people, but because of people. Having fewer of us, there will be less of those effects.”

Human population growth is exponential, meaning that every single person has the ability to make a impact.There are also things you can do, or strive to do including living a car-free lifestyle, not flying, and eating plant-based foods that can help the planet.We can and should all work together to all do our very best to combat the climate crisis so every species can have a bright future.

Climate change and effects on animals

In the past century, 97 percent of the world’s tiger population has vanished, leaving only about 3,900 individuals left in the wild. Poaching, deforestation and development have driven this sharp decline. Now, from the pine forests of Russia to the rainforests of Indonesia, a new threat looms for these remaining tigers: climate change.

1. Rising sea levels

In India and neighboring Bangladesh, rising sea levels are shrinking coastal habitat for hundreds of endangered Bengal tigers that rely on the area’s mangrove forest, the largest in the world. Higher waters erode this patchwork of islands, called the Sundarbans, and cause salt water to migrate into fresh water, polluting the tigers’ drinking source. Tigers must find new freshwater sources and move to higher ground, escalating conflicts with communities living there.

2. Deforestation

Cutting down forests accelerates climate change while pushing species like the critically endangered Sumatran tiger to the brink of extinction. Unsustainably cultivated palm oil plantations are fast replacing Indonesia’s forests. This deforestation destroys important habitat, and could leave Sumatran tigers more vulnerable to illegal wildlife trafficking.

Keeping Indonesia’s forests intact helps protect tigers and address the impacts of climate change. CI is working in Indonesia, Brazil and other key palm-oil-producing countries to keep deforestation out of palm oil supply chains.

3. Temperature changes

Shifting temperatures are altering habitat for Siberian tigers in Russia and China, as Korean pine forests give way to fir and spruce trees — meaning less prey for hungry tigers that prefer to hunt in pine forests. Fewer than 600 Siberian, or Amur, tigers remain, heralding the possible extinction of the world’s largest cat within the next 100 years.

4. Natural disasters

As climate change accelerates, scientists predict more frequent wildfires in the remote regions where Siberian tigers live. Longer, hotter and drier wildfire seasons are the new reality, threatening Siberian tiger habitat and food supplies. Climate change also drives more worse storms and flooding that ruins crops, forcing people to travel farther from their homes and into tiger territory to make a living. In the Sundarban Islands, human-tiger conflict can result as displaced farmers gather seafood and honey in the same mangroves where tigers roam.

Climate change is threatening the habitats and food sources of tigers, making them vulnerable to poaching and to conflicts with communities. In many cases, protecting tigers — specifically by preserving their habitat, which is often forest — also helps combat climate change. By keeping forests standing, we’re giving tigers a fighting chance.

Tigers protection

To save tigers, we need to protect the forest habitats across Asia where they live. By saving biologically diverse places, we allow tigers to roam and hunt the many other endangered species that live there. As a large predator, the tiger plays a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Reason For Tiger Disappearing

Deforestation loss of Habitat-Forests are being cut down for various purposes like paper, palm, housing, furniture, firewood. Deforestation has been the cause of a truly massive number of species extinction in modern times and historical times. It always lacks the large biodiversity of its previous state. With the disappearance of the original forest, many species go extinct, and many that don’t lose a great deal of their genetic diversity and variation.

Tigers skin-Consumers demand for tiger body parts poses the largest threat to the tiger. Tigers are being illegally hunted for their skin, bones, teeth, nails, etc. which are highly valuable for medicinal use and remedies. In the past 10 years over 1000 tigers are hunted to meet the consumer demand. Chinese people use tiger skin and other body parts for medicinal use and black magic with the disappearance of the original forest, many species go extinct, and many that don’t lose a great deal of their genetic diversity and variation.

Spread of disease among the tiger population-There is a certain disease that spread like an epidemic. Diseases like Feline Panleukopenia, Tuberculosis, Sarcocystis have to lead to endangered tigers. Health Management of wildlife is neglecting.

Loss of Habitat-Tigers need an intact habitat in order to live. They like to live in the depth of the thick forests. 100 sq km area is sufficient to survive about 15 to 16 tigers. Males’ tigers run throughout the forests to hunt and mate. This then means habitat loss causes birth rate and lowers overall survive.

Tiger Hunting-There are many peoples who hunt tigers for sports and for other decorative purposes. A recent trend has been the hunting of tigers for human consumption. Many people in China believe that tiger meat and bones have medicinal elements which are beneficial for human health her body parts for medicinal use and black magic with the disappearance of the original forest, many species go extinct, and many that don’t lose a great deal of their genetic diversity and variation.

How To Save Tiger?

The tiger is not just a wild animal living in the forest. The tiger is a unique animal which plays a important role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. If the Tigers go extinct the entire ecosystem would collapse. When a species goes extinct, it leaves behind a scar. This affects the entire ecosystem. Tigers can be saved in the following ways:

Spread the news and tell others that tigers are dying and they need to be protected. In every media, the advertisement should be given. The government should be aware of the people regarding saving the tiger.

Responsible Tourist wilderness is to be experienced not to be polluted. While experiencing the wilderness following the forest department guidelines. Don’t leave anything behind except some foodstuffs. Don’t throw garbage here and there, maintain cleanness.

Inform the police If you see any illegal activity like hunting and poaching give the information to the local police station and forest department or the people who look after the reserve.

Educate the local peoples those who live near the forest need to be educated about the importance of tigers in the ecosystem. If there are no tigers there will be no forest as all grass eaters animals will live.

The Government should give punishment to the hunters those who hunt tigers and wild animals. If somebody is hunting tigers immediately inform the local police station and forest department.

Stop poaching, don't buy goods made from tiger’s skin and bones. Sale of tiger skin and body parts is banned by the government. If somebody is doing the business of tiger body parts, inform it to the police and make sure that they receive severe punishment for this crime.

Donate Fund The easiest way to join for saving the tiger is to donate the money to the organization those who are supporting to save the tiger. Some of the well-known organization Panthera, World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Big Cat Rescue

Spread Awareness through social media. Encourage others to support the efforts being made to save the tigers. Social media is a very handy tool for this-post links to interesting articles about the plight of the tigers, spread word about petitions that your friends and family can sign, and follow your favorite tiger organizations on Facebook, Twitter, or any of the other various platforms out there.

We’re facing the biggest environmental challenge our species has ever seen. No matter what we’re passionate about, something we care about will be affected by climate change so it’s time to take action and look after the planet we live in not only for us humans and the planet but for the animals as well.

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cosimaballettithomas-blog · 5 years

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Blog No. 12

The topic of this week’s readings was water. Miller’s Chapter 13 Water Resources discusses how we can have so many water problems when it is so ubiquitous (Miller 2012, 318). As Greek philosopher Thales famously said, “all things are water,” so why, then are people dying from dehydration (Prof’s PowerPoint)? Not only do we have a multitude of water problems, we have many different kinds of water problems. It is a global health issue as limited access to water results in the deaths of almost 4000 children per day from waterborne diseases caused by unsafe drinking water (Miller 2012, 319). It is also an economic issue as water is essential for food/energy production and poverty reduction. Moreover, because approximately half of the global population has no irrigation, women and daughters are forced to travel miles to find water. It is also a security issue due to tension between countries that share water resources. Lastly, it is an environmental issue caused by “excessive withdrawal of water from rivers and aquifers result[ing] in falling water tables, decreasing river flows, shrinking lakes, and disappearing wetlands,” in addition to water pollution which can harm aquatic animals and “aquatic ecosystem services” (Miller 2012, 319). One example of this is Chris Jordan’s Albatross which demonstrates in a very vivid and heartbreaking way the effects of pollution on wildlife (Chris Jordan, Albatross). Similarity, Jordan’s “Midway: Message from the Gyre” shows the “detritus of our mass consumption” in the stomachs of infant albatrosses in Midway, Atoll who were fed trash by their parents who mistook it for food (Jordan 2001). I think it's really important that we have more primary footage like this, as hard to watch as it may be, because it forces viewers to literally look into the eyes of the victims of our unsustainable and environmentally-negligent practices.

As previously explained, the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough drinking water, it’s that we don’t manage it well. We pollute it, as demonstrated in the video, and we also use more than we need for unnecessary purposes leading to an uneven distribution of water resources, a basic human necessity, and more importantly a basic human right. Moreover, only about 0.03% of the world’s water supply is available to us in the form of fresh drinking water from rivers and lakes while the rest is either ocean water, frozen in glaciers, or underground and inaccessible (Miller 2012, 319). Because of this, we have to rely heavily on the water resources that areavailable to us such as ground and surface water. Although there is little moisture below the levels of soil and rock near the surface of the earth, at a certain point we can reach the zone of saturation which is filled with water (319). Even deeper are the aquifers which are “porous layers of sand, gravel, or rock through which groundwater flows” (319). This groundwater moves from high pressure to low pressure but we have to use pumps to extract the water, which replenishes itself through natural recharge that involves “precipitation that percolates downward through exposed soil and rock” (320). Surface water is another vital resource which comes from rain or melted snow that enters bodies of water. The water that doesn’t evaporate or percolate into the ground is referred to as surface runoff and the land that surface water channels through before entering a body of water is a watershed, both of which are incredibly important given that approximately ⅔ of surface runoff per year is lost due to flooding, meaning that only about ⅓ is reliable runoff (Miller 2012, 320).

Miller encourages us to apply the three Principles of Sustainability to our search for a solution to the water crisis. For example “preserving biodiversity by avoiding disruption of aquatic systems and their adjacent terrestrial systems is a key factor in maintaining water supplies and water quality” (Miller 2012, 343). According to the website, based on my country of residence and consumption pattern, my water footprint is 594.6 m^3 compared to the global average of 1243^3 (WFN). I assume that mine is lower compared to the average American because I live on my own, am vegetarian, and am pretty conscious about my water usage. Most people don’t realize how much water is required to produce common food products; for example, a gallon of milk requires almost 900 gallons of water and a pound of beef requires a whopping 1800 gallons (Prof’s PowerPoint). The image below is particularly telling of the environmental tolls of the animal product industry where even the least water consuming animal product, eggs, still require more than the most water consuming non-animal product, soda (see below). I think a lot of Americans are just environmentally illiterate and there needs to be more environmental education in schools in order to reshape and redirect the collective attitude towards nature and the environment.

(WFC 2017)

In response to Miller’s Critical Thinking Question #9 from Chapter 20 Water Pollution, the three actions I would take to reduce water pollution would be to hold companies like Exxon more accountable for the horrific damage caused by oil spills. Although Exxon eventually had to pay for the catastrophe, I don’t think any amount of money could have compensated for the massive devastation caused by the company. Moreover, there other companies that have caused similar damage and faced even fewer repercussions (Miller 2012, 548). Secondly, I would implement higher taxes on companies like Exxon that transport huge amounts of products across oceans because even without a devastating oil spill these ships still emit high levels of CO2 and pollute oceans, not to mention the physical danger they pose to aquatic animals. Lastly, I would force countries to make the shift to total renewable energy to eliminate the need to transport resources like coal and oil. The three actions I would take to provide safe drinking water would be to build large facilities for reverse osmosis and desalination systems in ocean bordering countries exhibiting water scarcity. I would also build more water treatment centers, which would also effectively create jobs. Lastly, I would place greater restrictions on resource extraction processes that pollute ground water and water bodies from sediment runoff.

Water pollution poses a multitude of risks that are not immediately evident to a lot of people; for example, when raw sewage from sewage treatment plant leaks into water it can create colonies of viruses leading to a range of health problems from a minor sore throat to gastrointestinal disease (Miller 2012, 544). I think this presents another explanation as to why people, especially Americans, are so ill. informed about water issues, because for the most part they occur far away. This is exemplified well in an Environmental News Network titled “Mining Pollution Limits Access to Clean Water in Papua New Guinea” that discusses the “social, environmental economic, and health impacts of gold mining in Porgera,” finding that “the communities affected by mining do not have access to consistent and safe drinking water” (ENN 2019). This is complicated by the country’s failure to meet “its human rights obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to water in Porgera,” as well as the fact that the mines are controlled by powerful Chinese and Canadian companies (ENN 2019). The waste produced by the mining is called tailings which are being discharged into the Pongema River causing it to turn red and leading to major water insecurity. However, most people are unaware of these long-term catastrophes that aren’t usually broadcast in the news likely because they are not as relatable or dramatic as, for example, Superstorm Sandy. What people can’t see won’t hurt them and this alienation caused by powerful companies exploiting off-shore resources is only exacerbating the problem for many poor countries who have no other option but to be exploited because their major source of revenue comes fromtheir national resources.

In addition, I think there is a problem in this country where, in the event of some terrible catastrophe, we’re not sure who to hold accountable, this is especially common in matters concerning international waters where there virtually are no laws. Who is responsible when volumes of raw sewage leak into a river and contaminate drinking water? The owner of the company? The day-to-day manager of the facility? Or the workers who were there the day of the leak? Or perhaps the company that built whatever machine or component it was that faulted and caused the leak? If we want to realize environmental change we’re going to have to work harder to hold the offenders of our environmental issues responsible. Miller discusses how laws can aid in reducing water pollution such as the EPA’s “experimenting with a discharge trading policy, which uses market forces to reduce water pollution as has been done with sulfur dioxide for air pollution control” by allowing permit holders to pollute at higher levels than allowed if they buy credits from other permit holders Miller 2012, 549). Obviously any action is better than no action; however, why are we enabling companies to pollute? Companies should not be allowed to pay money to poison the environment. I think that any corporation that is willing to pay money to pollute is bound to hold some very unethical views about the environment. Instead, we just need stricter bans and laws that have nothing to do with money because by doing otherwise we are just propagating the idea that you can do anything with enough money and power.

Word Count: 1579

Discussion Question: Do you think it is ethical for governments to create pollution and carbon markets where companies can buy and sell permits or is it just propagating the Anthropocentric idea that we have the right to exploit the environment?

Work Cited

Miller, Tyler G., and Scott Spoolman. "Chapter 13: Water Resources." Edited by Scott Spoolman. In Living in the Environment. 17th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.

Van Buren, Edward. “Prof’s PowerPoint Notes.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RMjVGYUwwZlBXa28/view

Jordan, Chris. "Albatross." Albatross. Accessed April 08, 2019. https://www.albatrossthefilm.com/.

Personal Water Footprint Calculator." Water Footprint Network. Accessed April 08, 2019. https://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/personal-water-footprint-calculator/.

Miller, Tyler G., and Scott Spoolman. "Chapter 20: Water Pollution." Edited by Scott Spoolman. In Living in the Environment. 17th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.

Jordan, Chris. "Midway: Message from the Gyre." Chris Jordan Photography. 2011. Accessed April 08, 2019. http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#about.

Earth Institute, Columbia University. "Mining Pollution Limits Access to Clean Water in Papua New Guinea." Environmental News Network. March 20, 2019. Accessed April 08, 2019. https://www.enn.com/articles/57262-mining-pollution-limits-access-to-clean-water-in-papua-new-guinea.

"Food's Big Water Footprint." Water Footprint Calculator. December 13, 2018. Accessed April 08, 2019. https://www.watercalculator.org/water-use/foods-big-water-footprint/.

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unixcommerce · 5 years

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What is a Business Continuity Plan and How can It Help Your Business?

If a disaster such as a fire, flood or communication breakdown were to occur, many businesses would lose profits, damage their reputation or even be forced to close. A well-thought-out business continuity plan can help prevent this kind of extensive damage from happening.

Having a company-wide plan in case of an emergency is essential, especially as businesses rely more on digital means of communication, operations and data storage. Luckily, there are ample resources available for creating a business continuity plan template and utilizing it within almost any organization. Here, we’ll cover the aspects of a continuity plan and how companies can begin to create their own. Feel free to jump to a condensed version in our visual below.

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is the outline of procedures put in place by a company to prevent damage, maintain productivity and recover in the event of a disaster. When creating a business continuity plan, companies identify possible threats such as fires, utility disruptions or cyber attacks and proactively determine what employees can do to get the business back on track.

Threats to business continuity

There are several fatal disruptions a company can experience. Some businesses have industry-specific threats, but there are also events that threaten almost any company, including:

Natural disasters: This includes any force of nature that poses a significant threat to human health and safety, property or critical infrastructure. Natural disasters include all natural phenomena such as wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, winter storms, floods or earthquakes.

Man-made disasters: This includes any catastrophe that is the result of human negligence, mistake or accident. Man-made disasters include chemical explosions, gas leaks, oil spills, factory fires, hazardous material spills or improper disposal of waste.

Utility failures: This occurs when any utility provider fails to provide service for any reason. Utility failures include electricity or power failure, loss of communication lines or disruption of water service.

Intentional sabotage: These are any acts committed with the intent of putting a business at risk. Sabotage can take many forms, for example, a bomb threat, a financial information leak or arson.

Cybersecurity attacks: This refers to any attack on the company’s technical assets such as by a hacker. Cybersecurity threats include information leaks, ransomware, SQL injection attacks or denial of service attacks.

The Anatomy of a Business Continuity Plan

In order to protect itself from profit losses, reputation damage and customer loss, a company must create a business continuity plan that details the actions employees should take in the event of each disaster. The plan should be thorough and include possible threats, readiness procedures to protect against these threats and information on who should be leading each process.

While constructing a continuity plan, each scenario and plan of action should be thoroughly documented so that it can be easily referenced later.

Identify the objectives of the plan and set goals

Identifying the objectives of the business continuity plan and setting goals around those objectives is the company’s first look into the scope of the business continuity plan. How detailed and practiced should the plan be? What departments will the plan cover? Determine the expected outcomes of a successful plan and set goals and milestones to hit during the preparation of the plan.

One important determination is the budget for the continuity plan. This should include any preparation or research hours, training time and materials, or any other costs that having a solid continuity plan might incur.

Choose the business continuity team

The business continuity plan should include a section that outlines the chosen business continuity team and what each member is responsible for. Each member should have their responsibilities clearly outlined.

Include the contact information, titles and any other need-to-know information for each member. If applicable, specify backup contacts for each responsibility or department.

Two types of sub-teams to consider are:

Command and control teams: The command and control sub-teams should include a crisis management team and a recovery management team. A team that manages the facilitation of the business continuity plan while it is in action is necessary as well.

Task-oriented teams: This sub-team includes specialized teams such as a public and media relations team, a damage assessment and salvage team, a legal team, a telecommunications (or alternate communications) team, a mechanical equipment team, a cybersecurity and IT team, a transport coordination team, and any other team necessary for the continuation of the business. These teams will vary by industry.

Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)

When creating the business continuity plan a business impact analysis should also be conducted. This is an assessment of the impact potential threats could have on each aspect of the business.

Through predictions and forecasts, the continuity plan team should be able to create a specialized business continuity plan template, test situations and gather information about potential holes in the plan or additional strategies that should be implemented during the recovery process.

The BIA document should include explanations of the core business operations, as well as which aspects of the business, are critical for successful operation. It should document any resources needed to keep these critical departments afloat during a disaster scenario.

The BIA should detail scenarios for every level of disaster from minor disturbances to total losses. There should be options for each disaster level and the most logical and realistic plan should be chosen, keeping in mind the risks, benefits, costs, flexibility and disruption scenarios.

Identify key business areas and critical functions

As part of the BIA, the team will want to establish a comprehensive understanding of the business’s core needs. To do this, identify which critical business processes, if rendered dysfunctional, would have the most damage on the company overall. Damage can include revenue loss, harm to the company’s reputation or damage to the company’s ability to operate properly.

Examine each aspect and function of the business and classify it as either high (most severe), medium or low (least severe). Some questions that can be helpful to consider when examining critical business functions include:

What business objectives does this aspect support?

How many departments will this function affect?

How often does this function occur?

What other aspects of the business are dependent on this function for success?

What would be the revenue loss if this function was not completed?

Are there potential fines or legal issues tied in with this function?

Does this function impact the business’s public image or market share?

Identify any pain points or dependencies

Also part of the BIA, businesses should proactively identify potential problems that could arise. If any departments or functions have time-sensitive stipulations or dependencies between any of the areas of business, the amount of tolerable downtime should be addressed. Use the rating system established for key business functions to determine where resources should be allocated and in what order.

If there are any possible pitfalls or situations that might knock the plan off schedule, identify them ahead of time through the use of drills and testing (more information on how to do that below).

Make a plan to maintain operations

This should be the most detailed section of the business continuity plan. Note that it should also be revisited as the company evolves and situations change. Companies should start by doing an analysis of current recovery capabilities and how they could be improved.

Readiness procedures could include:

Prevention strategies: Detail any actions that need to take place as a preventative measure before the disaster occurs. While conducting the BIA, it’s likely that there will be areas that could use mitigation. This could include having backup providers for utilities or generators available nearby. It could also include setting up alternative communication networks or remote options for employees in emergencies.

Response strategies: There should be a detailed response strategy for each department. This should include exactly what each member of the business continuity team should do, step by step, in the event of an emergency. For example, if there is a dangerous evacuation, procedures should be in place as well as any safety protocols. The protocols could include when and how the company will contact the media or public or who will notify dependent customers of a disruption.

Recovery strategies: After the event has been contained or stabilized, there are necessary steps toward recovery. This section should outline exactly what they are and who is responsible for implementing them. An example of a recovery strategy is an alternative method or process (like a manual workaround) to get the company running again, or an alternative facility that the company could use in the interim.

Develop a testing and training curriculum

A curriculum should be implemented to train the business continuity team as well as employees that will be affected in the event of an emergency. This could include basic training and an overview of the business continuity plan or in-depth exercises designed to test the procedures and prepare employees (depending on the industry and possible threats).

Team members who have specialized responsibilities should be properly trained in emergency protocol. If you are conducting drill exercises, ensure that each employee exhibits high levels of readiness and comprehension upon completion.

Exercises should have clear objectives and goals, easily understood assumptions of the scenario, instructions for all participants, a clear narrative and a post-exercise evaluation. Leaders should identify where further training is needed or improvements to the process could be made.

Determine ongoing program maintenance and quality assurance

The business continuity plan should be a living document that evolves and changes as necessary. Quality assurance strategies should be documented to ensure the continued effectiveness of the plan and should be checked by multiple departments. This could include when to hold:

Internal reviews: Businesses should conduct a review of the plan annually (biannually if in a high-risk industry). This section should address exactly when any updates need to be made due to changes like threats to the environment, results of exercises that indicate a change is needed or changes to the structure or personnel of the company.

External reviews: It can be helpful to have an external consultant come in and evaluate the plan or suggest improvements. This section should document when this should happen and who should conduct the audit.

Additional drills and tests: Ongoing training and tests should be exercised based on changes made to the document. This section should outline when that is necessary and how the drills are to be conducted.

Business Continuity Software and Tools

There are numerous tools and software applications businesses can use to assist crafting and maintaining a business continuity plan. Tools range from consultants to single task tools to full software programs. Determine which tools are right for the business by assessing the needs of the organization, the complexity of the plan, the timelines involved and the allocated budget.

Preparatory tools: These include tools that can help a business prepare their business continuity plan or aid in preparations for a disaster. For example, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers a Business Continuity Planning Suite. Other business continuity planning software providers include Arcserve, Axcient, Continuity Logic, StorageCraft and Strategic BCP.

Internal auditing tools: These tools can help a business assess their strengths, weaknesses, pain points and areas of concern. Some companies that produce tools that can be helpful when performing an internal audit include LogicGate, Form.com, Reciprocity and Onspring.

Documentation tools: These can include simple office tools like Word, Excel and other office suite tools, but can also include BCM planning software or document storage software. Software that uses the cloud to assist in business continuity, like BC in the Cloud, can be extremely helpful in documenting processes and ensuring they are always accessible. Cloud storage software like Dropbox, Acronis and Zoolz can ensure data is protected and can be accessed anywhere.

Communication tools: This includes internal and external communication and notification tools. Communication tools can be used to send direct messages to recovery teams, vendors, shareholders or staff. Everbridge is a popular mass notification tool, but VoIP phone services and web conferencing tools like Skype or Zoom can be helpful in emergency situations as well.

Recovery tools: There are a plethora of tools and entire companies dedicated to aiding businesses in recovery during disaster situations or business interruptions. Depending on the tool or business partner they can aid in everything from communication assistance to data recovery and office space. Agility Recovery is a company that offers many of these options. Novinex is another company that offers a wide range of business recovery services across many industries. Data recovery tools like Long View can be helpful as well.

Having a business continuity plan is an essential security measure in today’s corporate world. The benefits are numerous both internally and externally. Having a dynamic plan in place can help build confidence and trust with employees and shareholders, help with managing the company’s reputation with clients and customers, assist the business in meeting legal obligations and, of course, ensure the business experiences minimal loss in the event of a disaster.

Republished by permission. Original here

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This article, “What is a Business Continuity Plan and How can It Help Your Business?” was first published on Small Business Trends

https://smallbiztrends.com/

The post What is a Business Continuity Plan and How can It Help Your Business? appeared first on Unix Commerce.

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unixcommerce · 5 years

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What is a Business Continuity Plan and How can It Help Your Business?

What is a Business Continuity Plan?

Threats to business continuity

There are several fatal disruptions a company can experience. Some businesses have industry-specific threats, but there are also events that threaten almost any company, including:

Intentional sabotage: These are any acts committed with the intent of putting a business at risk. Sabotage can take many forms, for example, a bomb threat, a financial information leak or arson.

The Anatomy of a Business Continuity Plan

While constructing a continuity plan, each scenario and plan of action should be thoroughly documented so that it can be easily referenced later.

Identify the objectives of the plan and set goals

Choose the business continuity team

Include the contact information, titles and any other need-to-know information for each member. If applicable, specify backup contacts for each responsibility or department.

Two types of sub-teams to consider are:

Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)

When creating the business continuity plan a business impact analysis should also be conducted. This is an assessment of the impact potential threats could have on each aspect of the business.

Identify key business areas and critical functions

What business objectives does this aspect support?

How many departments will this function affect?

How often does this function occur?

What other aspects of the business are dependent on this function for success?

What would be the revenue loss if this function was not completed?

Are there potential fines or legal issues tied in with this function?

Does this function impact the business’s public image or market share?

Identify any pain points or dependencies

If there are any possible pitfalls or situations that might knock the plan off schedule, identify them ahead of time through the use of drills and testing (more information on how to do that below).

Make a plan to maintain operations

Readiness procedures could include:

Develop a testing and training curriculum

Determine ongoing program maintenance and quality assurance

Business Continuity Software and Tools

Republished by permission. Original here

Image: Due.com

This article, “What is a Business Continuity Plan and How can It Help Your Business?” was first published on Small Business Trends

https://smallbiztrends.com/

The post What is a Business Continuity Plan and How can It Help Your Business? appeared first on Unix Commerce.

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2BwtsHy via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes